Test
HomePod, the surprise return of an unplugged
Apple reintroduced a “premium” smart speaker that speaks and hears last Friday. Beautiful dress, excellent sound, head with its small character.
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The second generation HomePod practically on station. We love her for her dress. We appreciate him for his sound, we respect him for his “intelligence”, sometimes rebellious.
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Unlike the first generation, the power cord is removable. The touch surface has been slightly enlarged.
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“Hey Siri” was spoken. The speaker is listening. Apple has put its reputation on the line when it comes to processing personal data.
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the HomePod has lost a few grams but its weight (2.3 kilos) remains strong.
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In February 2018, Apple first introduced in the United States (for 349 dollars), the HomePod, its vision of the connected speaker: resolutely high-end, resolutely audiophile and resolutely proprietary. In 2021, Apple, apparently disappointed by a reception that was not as enthusiastic as expected, decided to cease production of the model and focus on a “HomePod mini” at 99 francs.
It was therefore a great surprise to see a product that had been evacuated through the window almost two years earlier return through the front door at the start of 2023. The “second generation” HomePod has been available since Friday, February 3. This is a simultaneous worldwide release, including Switzerland.
Apple is not very forthcoming on the reasons behind this unusual second chance given. At most, it is suggested that a seemingly insistent request prompted the manufacturer to reintroduce the product while providing the opportunity to slightly review its copy. Its price, revised downwards in the United States and Switzerland (where it remains just below the symbolic bar of 299 francs), contrasts with that, less attractive, observed in euros (349 euros). This is all the more surprising since the euro and the Swiss franc have been almost at parity for some time. We feel coming like a zephyr of shopping tourism.
Place to test
On to the test. The HomePod looks like two drops of water at the first of the name. So much so that it is difficult to distinguish a very slight loss of weight and dimensions. We note that, this time, the power cable is removable. Its sobriety, its finish contribute to an attractive aesthetic (little black dress with blue reflections or white dress, to choose from).
Once plugged into the mains, all you have to do is hold your smartphone (an iPhone must) for it to send everything the loudspeaker needs to operate in an environment covered by a wi-fi network. To fine-tune these automatic settings, you have to go to the “Home” application and indicate what type of room the device is in (living room, kitchen, bedroom, etc.). The initial configuration, most often subject to an update, only takes a few minutes. The speaker that talks, listens and obeys (when all goes well) is ready.
As part of our tests, the HomePod found itself closely associated with a music stream (Apple Music), a Podcast stream (Apple Podcasts), two Apple TVs each connected to their screen and a lighting system automated (Philips Hue). We could have given it more to manage if we had other compatible accessories, a wireless doorbell, a smoke detector or heating thermostats for example.
Let the music
But to all lord, all honor, place for sound in general and music in particular. In this regard, the HomePod excels. Of all the loudspeakers (“intelligent” or not) of comparable size that we were able to rub shoulders with, this is the one that flattered our ears the most. Subjectively, the balance between bass, midrange and treble seemed close to perfect.
“This Secret…”
And the piloting? The latter is of course done either with his smartphone by launching the desired sound or music application and then manually selecting the appropriate AirPlay channel, but the HomePod is above all designed to respond to the voice. With the famous “Hey Siri…” opening the speaker’s esgourds, followed by voice commands which can be “What time is it?” “Turn on the lights in the bedroom”, “What is the temperature in the room? (the HomePod is indeed equipped with a temperature and humidity sensor), “Play me soft music”, “wake me up at 8 am tomorrow morning” or any other more or less precise command, more or less specific, more or less far-fetched.
Russian mountains
On this ground, we went through all the phases: from unqualified enthusiasm to a slight disappointment. Enthusiasm when we managed to successfully pass a succession of increasingly complex orders. Disappointed when Siri remained completely off the mark with certain commands that were considered to be obvious.
Among the most absurd we had the case where Siri gave the temperature of the room without muffling but when we decided to ask it to launch an alert when the temperature exceeded a certain ceiling, Siri claimed not to find any trace of the sensor that she has in her bowels. Absurd and bug to fix, for sure.
But to stay positive, we will recognize that Siri’s ears on HomePod are very, very thin. Even with music on the corner, we were able to make ourselves understood without having to shout. To the point that, for the first time, we began to prefer to use a voice command than by the other more conventional ways that we always favored before.
“home cinema” mode
The other aspect on which we have looked at length is the close link wanted by Apple between the speaker and the Apple TV 4K, the box which, when connected to a TV or a projector, becomes the sorting station for all kinds of digital content (applications, games and streaming services, etc.). A quality station has been observed for a long time.
The Apple TV plugged into an HDMI eARC socket indicates here that it has spotted our test HomePod and has activated the audio return channel that external devices connected to the TV can take.
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Once the small black box and the HomePod are placed in the same room in the “Home” application of the iPhone, the Apple TV automatically recognizes the speaker and offers to check the box that allows it to be the sound output Main TV. And when the Apple TV+ or Netflix applications broadcast a series with an Atmos audio channel, the latter is managed by the HomePod, we were able to verify. Hence the idea of transforming the TV corner into a small “Home Cinema” room. The Apple TV acts as a sort of image/sound powerhouse and the HomePod becomes capable of restoring the most spatialized… It works, already not badly with a speaker but probably better with two paired HomePods, which we could not test. It is also much lighter to set up than an amp and a series of loudspeakers and a subwoofer.
But does it work with a Blu-ray player and/or a games console connected by HDMI cable to the screen? Yes if the Apple TV 4K is of the latest generation and if the television has an HDMI ARC or eARC input. No, otherwise: the sound of the console or the physical disc player will then only be able to pass through the small speakers of the television.
Usable sound channels detected by Xbox Series X with the console plugged into a TV that is itself hooked up to an Apple TV 4K (2021). The Dolby Atmos is missing. Weird.
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Having everything necessary, we tried in particular to run an Xbox Series X console with the image on the screen and the sound passing through an eARC return channel to the Apple TV, it worked: the HomePod is set to spit in stereo, in pseudo 5.1, in pseudo 7.1, in Dolby Digital too… But when the time came to make it broadcast Dolby Atmos, total failure. This is not normal, communicates Apple-London to whom we have traced this small black cloud on blue sky.
For our part, we leaned towards the hypothesis that Apple TV only lets the Atmos pass for its in-house (Apple TV+) or accredited (Netflix) applications but refuses it for obscure reasons for external devices and apps not dubbed (we think of Plex for example) which would be petty. To be continued.
In conclusion, the HomePod is a high-quality connected speaker with an excellent price-performance ratio on the Swiss market. However, it is only made for connected audiophiles and followers (or prisoners, a question of perspective) of the Apple ecosystem. Despite a Siri sometimes reluctant to bend to our four wills and some mysteries remaining in “Home cinema” mode, we would find him without being asked one, or even several niches in our cozy nest.